The invention pertains to mobile telephones and may be used during telephone conversations while, for example, operating a road vehicle.
In recent years, progress in the communications industry has led to the appearance and wide-spread use of mobile reception units, in particular, mobile telephones or cell phones. At the present time, a large number of cell phone manufacturers offer a wide variety of models, which differ from each other in functional capabilities, size, and design. Mobile reception opens up new possibilities of communication for the customer, and, on the other hand, requires them to follow certain rules, insuring the safety of any surrounding people. The primary aspect of these rules focuses on restricting the use of mobile connection while operating a road vehicle. Many countries have enacted laws and regulations regulating the use of cell phones by drivers of automobiles. The manufacturers of mobile telephones offer the customers special devices, called “car kits”, “speaker phones”, or “hands-free” devices or units including a microphone, speaker, and an electronic system for the switching of electronic signals at the output of the mobile telephone.
With the help of these devices, the drivers can safely talk on the cell phone while in a moving automobile, without being distracted from operating the vehicle, and without removing their hands from the steering wheel. The leading cell phone manufacturers are releasing specialized hands-free units, designed specially for use with hardware released by the same manufacturer. For example, the car kit CARK-132 (Technical Manual, Issue 1.0 09/01 N 0275517, Nokia Corporation), composed of a power unit and a control unit, to which the speaker, microphone and mobile phone holder are attached by cables. One disadvantage of this device is that it is adapted to work only with cell phones produced by Nokia and is not compatible with telephones of other manufacturers. If a user acquires a cell phone of another make or model, the specialized hands-free unit, previously installed in the automobile and designed for use with a cell phone of a specific model or a certain manufacturer, requires replacement. Therefore, this constructional and functional feature of the CARK-132 device, the lack of opportunity to adapt it to cell phones of different makes and models, is an obvious drawback.
In order for a hands-free unit to be comfortable to use and compatible with various models of cell phones, it is necessary to fulfill at least two requirements: first, the electronic scheme of the device must be compatible with the different output interfaces of cell phones of different manufacturers, and second, the hands-free unit must guarantee the safe positioning and fixation of the mobile telephone, taking into account the varying sizes and shapes of the body of the mobile telephone.
The first problem is solved by the use of interchangeable connectors linking the input and output of the electronics of the hands-free unit with the output and input of the electronics of the mobile telephone. The second problem is usually solved by the use of the mobile phone holders that are either adapted to the shape and design of the mobile phone (see the U.S. Pat. No. 6,138,041 which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety or U.S. Pat. No. 6,377,825 which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety) or contain adjustable holding units that can secure the body of the mobile phone in the holder.
In certain models of hands-free units, a compromise usually is strived for between the ease and simplicity of positioning and installing the mobile telephone in the holder and the reliability of its fixation, taking into account the vibrations during the movement of the vehicle. The easier it is to set up the mobile phone in the holder and to remove it from therein, the less reliable its fixation and the higher the chances of its slipping out of the holder and falling to the floor of the car while it is moving.
The closest to the present invention and chosen as a prototype is the universal hands-free unit for mobile telephones shown in FIG. 1 of the U.S. Pat. No. 6,349,223 which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. That device consists of a main module, in the body of which a speaker and an electronic control unit are placed, as well as a holder for the mobile telephone, a microphone, an attachment module and a changeable connection module for electrical connection of the electronic control unit with the electrical circuits of the mobile telephone. The holder of the mobile telephone is constructed in the form of two plates, oriented parallel to each other at a distance no less than the width of the mobile telephone, with the possibility to change this distance by moving at least one plate relative to the other plate with the help of a mechanism located in the body of the main module. The module has a shape elongated along the axis of the mobile telephone, and a frontal surface with a flat area next to the attachment point of the mobile telephone in the lower part of the body of the main module between holding plates of the mobile telephone. The speaker is located within the upper part of the body of the main module, and a fixating bracket made of elastic material is attached to the top of each of the discs of the holder of the mobile telephone.
The disadvantage of the prototype is the poor functional features of the device, associated with the unstable fixation of the mobile phones of differing construction and sizes, and the high possibility that they will fall out of the holder at the occurrence of vibrations, for example, as in a moving car.